The Weekly Round-up: Supreme Court to rule on indyref2, pandemic WhatsApps, and protection for pupils

22 July 2022 by

In the news

The UK Government has urged Supreme Court justices not to hear the Scottish government’s request for a ruling as to whether it has the power to hold ‘indyref2’ (a proposed second Scottish independence referendum). The request was referred to the UKSC by Lord Advocate Bain, who was not prepared to sign off on the independence referendum bill without a ruling which acknowledges the necessary power to do so. The UK Government has been expressive in its “clear view” that the bill would be beyond the competence of the Scottish Parliament, and that the matter is too “premature” for justices to rule on it. The case is currently in the hands of Lord Reed. If the Scottish Government wins the case, Nicola Sturgeon has indicated that the bill would be introduced promptly so as to allow the vote to take place before October 2023.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has reprimanded the Department of Health for the use of WhatsApp and private emails during the pandemic. The use of these cryptic platforms has meant that information regarding the handling of the pandemic has been lost. The issue was brought before the courts in April, where the claim was dismissed and the practice held to be lawful. This was because the use of such channels of communication did not in themselves breach the Freedom of Information or data protection rules, because sufficient controls were in place to allow the information to be retrieved upon request. The ICO investigation has discovered, however, that “such controls were lacking”. As a result, the Department of Health has been formally required to improve its communications operations so that “public authorities remain accountable to the people they serve”.

In other news

  • Schools across the UK have been advised to assess and balance the risk of a potential strip search on a pupil before calling the police. The new advice has been issued following the treatment of ‘Child Q’, a 15-year-old girl who was strip searched without an appropriate adult in 2020, having been wrongly accused of carrying cannabis. The guidance advises that all other ‘less invasive’ approaches must have been exhausted before triggering a possible strip search. It is hoped that this will help to protect pupils’ physical and mental wellbeing.
  • Permission has been granted to the Fire Brigades Union to challenge the Government’s reduction in the value of new pension schemes for firefighters. The grounds will be: (i) that the reduction breaches commitments made in 2015; (ii) that it contravenes the purpose of the cost control mechanism; and (iii) that it discriminates against younger scheme members.

In the courts

In LM (Albania) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 977, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against the dismissal of a judicial review claim brought to quash the negative Conclusive Grounds decision made by the Home Secretary. The appellant claimed to be a victim of trafficking, and brought 3 grounds of appeal: (i) the judge erred in accepting that the appellant’s account could be rejected on the grounds of her admitted dishonesty without considering the reasons for such dishonesty; (ii) the Home Secretary was wrong to attribute the appellant’s PTSD to causes other than trafficking without expert evidence; and (iii) the judged failed to apply anxious scrutiny to the appellant’s case and to consider every supporting factor. The appeal was dismissed on all grounds: central to the appellant’s case was that she was a victim of trafficking, and there was not sufficient evidence to show this. This coupled with her admitted dishonesty and inconsistencies, there was no basis for setting aside the Conclusive Grounds decision.  

In CK (A Child: Fact-Finding) [2022] EWCA Civ 952, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal brought by the mother of a young boy against a finding that she inflicted serious physical injuries on the child. There were 2 overarching contentions: (i) the judge was wrong to conclude that the injuries were inflicted non-accidentally; and (ii) if the injuries were inflicted, the judge was wrong to identify the mother as the perpetrator. An important consideration in the fact-pattern was that during a period when the boy was unable to walk, he sustained 4 fractures for which there are no explanations. The Court found that the judge made an evaluation of the evidence which they were entitled to make, and therefore the ruling was upheld.  

Elsewhere on the UKHRB

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Aarhus Abortion Abu Qatada Abuse Access to justice administrative court adoption ALBA Allison Bailey Al Qaeda animal rights anonymity Appeals Article 1 Protocol 1 Article 2 article 3 Article 4 article 5 Article 6 Article 7 Article 8 Article 9 article 10 Article 11 article 13 Article 14 Artificial Intelligence Asbestos assisted suicide asylum Australia autism benefits Bill of Rights biotechnology blogging Bloody Sunday brexit Bribery Catholicism Chagos Islanders charities Children children's rights China christianity citizenship civil liberties campaigners climate change clinical negligence Coercion common law confidentiality consent conservation constitution contempt of court Control orders Copyright coronavirus Coroners costs court of appeal Court of Protection covid crime Cybersecurity Damages Dartmoor data protection death penalty defamation deportation deprivation of liberty Detention diplomatic immunity disability disclosure Discrimination disease divorce DNA domestic violence duty of candour duty of care ECHR ECtHR Education election Employment Employment Law Employment Tribunal enforcement Environment Equality Act Ethiopia EU EU Charter of Fundamental Rights EU costs EU law European Court of Justice evidence extradition extraordinary rendition Family Fertility FGM Finance football foreign criminals foreign office France freedom of assembly Freedom of Expression freedom of information freedom of speech Gay marriage Gaza gender genetics Germany gmc Google government Grenfell Health healthcare high court HIV home office Housing HRLA human rights Human Rights Act human rights news Huntington's Disease immigration India Indonesia injunction Inquests international law internet Inuit Iran Iraq Ireland Islam Israel Italy IVF Jalla v Shell Japan Japanese Knotweed Judaism judicial review jury trial JUSTICE Justice and Security Bill Land Reform Law Pod UK legal aid legal ethics legality Leveson Inquiry LGBTQ Rights liability Libel Liberty Libya Lithuania local authorities marriage Maya Forstater mental capacity Mental Health military Ministry of Justice modern slavery monitoring murder music Muslim nationality national security NHS Northern Ireland nuclear challenges nuisance Obituary ouster clauses parental rights parliamentary expenses scandal Parole patents Pensions Personal Injury Piracy Plagiarism planning Poland Police Politics pollution press Prisoners Prisons privacy Private Property Professional Discipline Property proportionality Protection of Freedoms Bill Protest Public/Private public access public authorities public inquiries public law Regulatory Proceedings rehabilitation Reith Lectures Religion RightsInfo Right to assembly right to die right to family life Right to Privacy Right to Roam right to swim riots Roma Romania Round Up Royals Russia Saudi Arabia Scotland secrecy secret justice sexual offence sexual orientation Sikhism Smoking social media Social Work South Africa Spain special advocates Sports Standing statelessness Statutory Interpretation stop and search Strasbourg Supreme Court Supreme Court of Canada surrogacy surveillance Syria Tax technology Terrorism tort Torture travel treaty TTIP Turkey UK Ukraine UK Supreme Court unduly harsh united nations unlawful detention USA US Supreme Court vicarious liability Wales War Crimes Wars Welfare Western Sahara Whistleblowing Wikileaks Wild Camping wind farms WomenInLaw YearInReview Zimbabwe
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